This is my fifth year of teaching. I grew up aspiring to be a teacher, having had many teachers significantly shape my own outcomes as a child and ensure that I was safe and taken care of as well as achieving.
I LOVE this job. However, this job does not love me and that is evident. There is nowhere that I feel more complete than in class. I am devoted to each child that I work with and I get to know them as individuals in order to ensure that I am meeting their needs academically, but also socially and emotionally. I have applied for over 250 jobs in my five years of teaching. I have been fortunate to have some longer term (but still temporary) contracts in amongst that time. However I think I’ve had less than 15 interviews in my five years. I always leave interviews with very positive feedback and being told that my passion and enthusiasm comes across really well and I would be an asset, however there is always such wonderful candidates that maybe someone has mentioned a piece of policy that I didn’t, or maybe there is a candidate who has ties to the school.
I am now at my wits end. Every year, savings get used up from summer in to the autumn, there’s no way to plan for your future. You cannot buy a house, as you have no guaranteed income. You cannot start a family, as you haven’t worked enough to be entitled to maternity rights. You cannot get out of bed in the morning, because there is no work. There is no hope. One day of supply in over 3 months was my reality two years ago, so I turned to part time work. In my part time role, days could not be accommodated to allow me to pick up any supply. A lot of the supply work that becomes available in our council is only for a day. There is no financial stability and you actually cannot pay your bills. The council keeps opening the supply list but there isn’t enough work for those of us who are already on it. The other councils roundabout have not opened their supply lists in over 3 years (at least). So there’s no way to access work there either.
The council have previously “miscalculated” my pay so I am in debt to them, paying off month by month money which I cannot work for. You go to university to follow your dreams only to accumulate student loan debt and be left with a degree that may as well be useless if you never get the opportunity to use it.
I have been on antidepressants, I have attended counciling, I have lost friends and relationships because the reality of teaching is dreary and completely changes you as a person. I have contacted my local MSP’s, I am proactive in seeking opportunities but the reality is that there simply aren’t enough.
Yet the government continues to allow universities to train hundreds of teachers, who then end up in the same situation. The proposed “solution” of 3 years guaranteed work for newly qualified teachers only worsens the circumstances for people like me. Who will be left with no other option than to leave teaching altogether. It is heart breaking, it is demoralising and it truly is enough. We are left without support, without answers and completely alone trying to navigate hardship.
Shared anonymously with the contributor’s consent and reviewed by the campaign. Light edits may have been made for readability and to remove identifying details.
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